r/CFB • u/defensecowboy Texas Longhorns • 8d ago
Feature Story How overlooked Oregon State morphed into the most fun team in college football
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7673417/2026/10/09/oregon-state-jamarcus-shephard-pac-12/?unlocked_article_code=1.HVE.RW7t.guaAtSzw0utE&source=emp_shared_article&smid=url-share-ta127
u/Konges Oregon State • Pacific Northwe… 8d ago
Taking a gamble on Shephard was the best thing we've done in years.
Everything he has brought to the table, has been what we've needed for awhile.
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u/HurricaneRex Oregon State Beavers • Platypus Trophy 8d ago
Going with a committee to hire with unstwad of our AD was the correct play. If it was up to Barnes, we wouldn't have had Shepherd.
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u/Aromatic-Action-2523 Oregon State Beavers • Pac-10 8d ago
I've heard that Barnes was pushing hardest for Vigen, right?
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u/lock_robster2022 Oregon State • Washington 8d ago
Him or Polasek. Polasek didn’t even bother coming to Corvallis (nor should he have, as he knew about the upcoming FBS announcement) so Barnes flew to Fargo to interview him in a hotel lobby.
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u/SkanteWarriorFoo Oregon State • Washington 8d ago
Brandin Cooks was on the search committee, heard he pushed for Shep.
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u/HurricaneRex Oregon State Beavers • Platypus Trophy 8d ago
And if the rumors are true, he was the only vote for that.
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u/Reasonable-Public659 Oregon State Beavers 8d ago
I’ll admit I had zero hope or expectations for this season. Turns out Shepard is exactly the right guy for the job
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u/hacky_potter Purdue Boilermakers • Old Oaken Bucket 8d ago
He was a guy I was hoping Purdue would have taken a swing at before we hired Barry Odom. I get why we didn’t, he’s so young and didn’t have HC experience, but I’ve always liked him.
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u/Aromatic-Action-2523 Oregon State Beavers • Pac-10 8d ago edited 8d ago
Purdue is a place that I worry can and will pull him away eventually. Assuming he wants to go back to where he came up. Really hoping he's a wine drinker and likes the Oregon Coast, cause outside of being the first ones to believe in him I don't know what we have to keep him when others come calling.
Edit: fixed typo
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u/r0botdevil Oregon State Beavers 8d ago
One other thing we've got going for us is that Corvallis is one of the best college towns in the country. Unless you really love big-city life, it's a very nice place to live.
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u/fart_dot_com Big Ten • Pac-12 Gone Dark 8d ago
I love Corvallis but in these discussions I always want to stress that most people involved in playing or coaching football really are looking for different things than the typical fan, especially the typical fan on reddit.
Feels similar to people asking why talented players don't want to go to Boulder to play for Colorado.
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u/confirmd_am_engineer Michigan State • Toledo 8d ago
That’s true, but I think the same goes for West Lafayette. Purdue is also a nice place to be.
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u/bd1047 Indiana Hoosiers • Texas Longhorns 8d ago edited 8d ago
Uh, what? Even my Purdue friends admit it’s far from a great college town
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u/hacky_potter Purdue Boilermakers • Old Oaken Bucket 8d ago
You might want to proof read that sentence.
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u/Aromatic-Action-2523 Oregon State Beavers • Pac-10 8d ago
It's not great. At best it's a great college.
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u/cobalt1365 Oregon State Beavers • The CW 8d ago
Much easier playoff access?
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u/Worth_Initiative_570 Washington Huskies 8d ago
This is honestly why I think mora switched. Now that Tulane’s back to being Tulane, the G6 spot is basically going to be a reserved PAC-12 spot.
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u/hacky_potter Purdue Boilermakers • Old Oaken Bucket 8d ago
It’ll depend on how Barry does here. If he continues to sputter and Shepherd has good season, I’d guess he’d be towards the top of the list. I also feel like Purdue needs a creative coach on the offensive end.
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u/mtwolf55 Oregon State Beavers 8d ago
I hate to say this but our OC IS that creative mind. Watching the plays he calls, how creative he gets, how he’s advanced the offensive over the season is incredible.
I was at the CSU game last week. 2nd row. Beavs have established a pass first, 4 or 5 out slinging offense. Was also at the Tech game and we saw A LOT of that. But early in the CSU game we were running up the middle and hitting short dump offs to our tight ends. Taking advantage of CSU playing back to cover our WRs. That then cause them the pack the box a little more, after to play more 1-on-1 with WR, and then opened up long the ball. I saw an interview recently where our OC said he wants to run as many different formations as possible.
This dude is a HUGE part of the engine behind our offense. Honestly feels like our success is equal parts Shep bringing in talent and Mitch getting the most out of it.
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u/hacky_potter Purdue Boilermakers • Old Oaken Bucket 8d ago
I know Shep was the passing game coordinator under Brohm so some of that is his ideas being brought in as well
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u/mtwolf55 Oregon State Beavers 8d ago
He was pass game coordinator in 2017 (notably stopped 2018-21 tho) for Purdue and 2022-23 for Wash (not not at bama)…but it seems his strength always been player development and recruitment. I don’t doubt he impacted the kinda offense they run but really think Mitch deserves a lot of credit
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u/shoegottabekiddingme 8d ago
Last time beavs were this good everyone else panicked and left the PAC 12
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u/fart_dot_com Big Ten • Pac-12 Gone Dark 8d ago
Jonathan Smith's career is dead and the Pac 12 is alive!
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u/cronicpainboy Oregon Ducks 8d ago
Maybe we’ll get to go toe to toe again old friend
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u/shoegottabekiddingme 8d ago
I don’t know if Oregon has the offensive fire power to compete with the OSUs high flying offense
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u/Nervous_Metal_9445 Willamette Bearcats • Oregon Ducks 8d ago
Never look over OSU, each time they get kicked down they come back stronger. They were leveling out with Oregon at the collapse of the PAC 12, they fell off with the uncertainty of realignment, and have come back with better leadership and new talent. I just hope they are able to stick around because it is great when both FBS schools in your state are good and able to go blow for blow against each other in a rivalry game that should be played every year at the end of a season.
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u/r0botdevil Oregon State Beavers 8d ago
it is great when both FBS schools in your state are good and able to go blow for blow against each other in a rivalry game that should be played every year at the end of a season.
Hard agree.
I was a student at Oregon State from 2001-2006, which was the second half of the ten year period where the home team always won the Civil War no matter how good either team was that year because home field advantage was just that big. That's what a rivalry should be.
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u/B3ARJOY Oregon State Beavers 8d ago
Such fun years for the civil war
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u/BACKCUT-DOWNHILL Oregon State • Alaska 8d ago
The years that all of the Post Chip Kelly era out of state hype beast duck fans who claim UW was always a bigger rival will never understand. Growing up here I never heard a thing about the Huskies but in middle school every year on civil war day we’d have fights break out on the playground
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u/Osiris32 Oregon Ducks • /r/CFB Brickmason 7d ago
That was also the era when you put the smack down on Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl after their coach trashed talked y'all pretty badly.
That was super fun to to watch.
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u/r0botdevil Oregon State Beavers 7d ago
I remember that well! It was my senior year of high school, just months before I matriculated at OSU.
That year was probably the closest I will ever see Oregon State come to a national championship.
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u/Ometrist Oregon Ducks • Pacific (OR) Boxers 8d ago
If we played Oregon state to start the year we definitely could have lost that game
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u/ajaxnsfw 8d ago
Lose to an orange-and-black OSU team that lost double-digit games last season including a 30+ blowout to Oregon? Not likely IMO...
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u/SanFranTechSan Texas Tech Red Raiders 8d ago
Scariest team we’ve faced all year. I hope the QB and WR stay because they are dynamite together.
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u/Reasonable-Public659 Oregon State Beavers 8d ago
That was a real turning point for the team too. Players were talking post game about how they’re done with moral victories, and fans should expect them to win every game. It’s been pedal to the metal since
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u/B0Boman Oregon State Beavers • Marching Band 8d ago
I don't know if it came through on TV, but as the clock wound down, the remaining crowd gave polite applause like it was a middle school band concert. It felt appropriate after the garbage we've had to deal with over the past couple of years, but it sounds like it pissed the team off more than if the crowd had just left in silence, which I'm glad for.
Maybe we should use passive aggressive applause more often...
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u/mtwolf55 Oregon State Beavers 8d ago
I was one of those people!! 😭 I was by where they exited and was one of the first people clapping!! I had flown across the country and was just proud and excited to watch that kinda play for the first time in a couple years. Didn’t realize they hated it 💀
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u/iSurelyJest Oregon Ducks 8d ago
There's a reason they've historically been called the "Moral Victory Beavs". All the fans care about is beating the Ducks. They could have one win all season, but if that win is against Oregon, they act like they won a championship. They truly are a loser fan base.
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u/Reasonable-Public659 Oregon State Beavers 8d ago
Nobody calls them that or has ever called them that. And it’s called a rivalry, maybe look it up. You sound like a bandwagon fan that hopped on board because of all the jerseys lol
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u/iSurelyJest Oregon Ducks 8d ago
Ha, I've probably been a Ducks fan longer than you've been alive. The moral victory nickname was definitely a thing at one point.
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u/BaseballNorthwest 5d ago
Damn you’re old as shit and still view/address the college rivalry like a 12 year old who just wore his jersey to school? Damn 😂💀
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u/BACKCUT-DOWNHILL Oregon State • Alaska 8d ago
Born and raised in Oregon and lived in both Corvallis and Eugene. I’ve never heard anyone say “moral victory beavs”
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u/LuvGingers888 Iowa Hawkeyes 8d ago
I am too a Beaver🦫 believer.
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u/PunchNessie Oklahoma State • Oregon State 8d ago
It’s been a fun year for Orange and black OSUs.
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u/nightowl1135 Oregon Ducks • Big Ten 8d ago
Jeez. That flair combo. The upset W against Oregon must have hit like fucking crack. 😂
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u/Gracchus_15 7d ago
I was so confused how a team we beatike 60 to 3 last year played so well this year. Turns out you guys basically cleaned house and recruited everyone from a good team last year. Kind of hate the state of cfb. Ducks are obviously a huge abuser of this as well.
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u/Heroic_Dave Penn State Nittany Lions 8d ago
I’ve always had a soft spot for Oregon State ever since I watched the Beavers play in Beaver Stadium. Doubly so after the Paxit. Really pulling for you to make the playoffs.
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u/Camino3224 Alabama Crimson Tide • Memphis Tigers 8d ago edited 7d ago
Was bummed when Shep left.
But happy he’s at least getting this moment. And the ship has probably sailed, but I’d love it if the guys stayed in Corvallis
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u/isIand_dog 8d ago
If Oregon St. wins this weekend against San Diego St and Fresno St beats Boise. It's going to set up an epic clash two weeks away on the Halloween.
Hopefully Fresno St can wear the all black and Oregon can wear the all orange.
The best offense in the Pac vs the best defense in the Pac.
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u/InevitableAd2436 Washington Huskies • Creighton Bluejays 8d ago
Who would’ve thought a guy that’s been getting guys to the NFL since Western Kentucky would make a helluva a coach.
Great pick up by Oregon State. Shepard knows the PNW well.
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u/SayNoToCargoShorts UCLA Bruins • Big Ten 8d ago
*Shephard
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u/MightyOregon Oregon Ducks 8d ago
After seeing what JaMarcus Sheppard did with DoBoer at UW, I had a really good feeling and praised the hire when OSU chose him as HC.
I am very happy to see his early success rebuilding their program and wish them success moving forward!
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u/callawam Oregon State Beavers • Pac-12 8d ago
I've never felt so encouraged by a Beaver team starting 0-2 like this team did. They punched above their weight class in both games and went into the 3 game stretch of Montana, UTEP, and CSU with their foot on the gas.
There's still a lot of season left and we could just as easily go into the flex game with a 9-2 record, a 6-5 record, or somewhere in between. Not counting any other team on our schedule out, but also feeling like this team can beat any remaining team on their schedule.
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u/Nervous_Metal_9445 Willamette Bearcats • Oregon Ducks 7d ago
Best 2 loss team in the nation. I said it the day that OSU lost the second game and I continue to say it now. Oregon State closely lost to TWO ranked teams.
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u/SaulTBolls Oregon Ducks 8d ago
Them and Bosie st are going to be fun to watch run the pac 12.
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u/fart_dot_com Big Ten • Pac-12 Gone Dark 8d ago
Wazzu is going to strike at some point too. Fresno also has a pretty good record of success.
Not as good as the original Pac but it will be fun to follow this new incarnation.
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u/SaulTBolls Oregon Ducks 8d ago
Itll be interesting to see what happens to some of these guys too, I feel like there going to be much more athlete and coach movement in the pac 12. Oregon states QB WR combo they have is really good and I hope they are able to build on it.
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u/SayNoToCargoShorts UCLA Bruins • Big Ten 8d ago
*Boise
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u/zerocoolforschool Oregon Ducks • Portland State Vikings 8d ago
Hey man…. Some people say Warshington. Some people say Loosiana. Let the man have his Bosie State!
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u/JBru_92 UCLA Bruins 8d ago
I'm not going to try to argue that the Pac-12 breaking up was good for Oregon State... but if you look at it, they'll be much closer to the playoff conversation every year as one of the top G5 teams than they would have as a mid-to-lower tier P4 team.
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u/Kurtomatic Oregon State • Purdue 8d ago
The path will be more straight forward to describe, but in the old Pac-12 a 2nd or 3rd place finish might have been enough to qualify for the playoffs in the 12-team era. In a 12 team world, OSU would have been in the conversation in 2000, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2022 and 2023.
Whereas now not only does OSU have to win their conference (which is admittedly a lot easier now), you have to be the highest ranked of several conference champions.
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u/mtwolf55 Oregon State Beavers 8d ago
You don’t have to win ur conference for G6 spot, just highest ranked G6…
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u/Kurtomatic Oregon State • Purdue 8d ago
That's a good clarification, but I don't know that improves the odds much, though. Nine years out of ten, there's still likely only one team getting in, so long as the playoff stays at 12.
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u/FightOnForUsc USC Trojans • Pac-12 8d ago
You were 8-4 in 2023, I don’t think so. But I agree on 22
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u/Kurtomatic Oregon State • Purdue 8d ago edited 8d ago
I guess that depends on how one defines "in the conversation." In 2023, with two weeks to go, the Beavers were 8-2 and Top 10 with two top 10 opponents yet to play. They lost to eventual national runner up UW by 2, then the coach quit, then they get blown out by Oregon. But if they win either of those games, they probably finish top 12. Of course, the playoff was only four teams, so they probably had no chance even if they win out.
So while they weren't in the conversation at the end, with two weeks to go, they certainly were. Even with one week to go, they likely would have had a shot with a win in Autzen.
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u/FightOnForUsc USC Trojans • Pac-12 8d ago
Okay yea that’s fair, if the coach doesn’t quit and you win either then I agree
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u/GoBeaversOSU Oregon State • /r/CFB Poll Veteran 7d ago
There's no way that a 3rd place finish Pac12 team would have made the 12 team playoff lol.
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u/rhododenendron Washington State • Wisconsin 8d ago
That's what I was saying for WSU and look what happened
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u/Spartannia Michigan State Spartans • Marching Band 7d ago
Good for them, they got fucked especially hard by the changing landscape.
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u/Intelligent_Sky_7081 Nebraska Cornhuskers 8d ago
Maybe Oregon state can win a Natty before Oregon does?
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u/MotorOutside8648 Michigan • Northwestern 3d ago
Nice coaching staff you have there, Beavers. Would be a shame if a blue blood with endless supplies of money suddenly found the need to go coach shopping.
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u/Trojan-11 Oregon Ducks 7d ago
I don’t want this come off as cynical rival talking shit. I’m happy the Beavs are on the up. Truly. Their situation reminds me of mid table premier league club that develops good players and coaches only to get raided by bigger wealthier clubs at the end of the season. I hope I’m wrong.
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u/TheFoxBride Oregon Ducks 8d ago
I didn’t know a thing about them this year but all this pub recently has me excited they may have some players for us to poach…thanks for all the stories!
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u/Admiral_Sarcasm Pacific (OR) • Oregon State 8d ago
Go duck yourself man even other fans of your team are disavowing your bullshit vulture-ism
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u/Aromatic-Action-2523 Oregon State Beavers • Pac-10 8d ago
Please stop saying good things about us. We want to keep our team together.